Chapter 58 Small Business

The next day, Caiyun took ten straw brooms, along with some dried chili peppers and ginger, and set off happily toward Tangling.

She compared her own straw brooms with those of another seller and felt that hers looked much better in appearance. In order to seize the market and given that this was her first time selling them, she decided to price them at only fifty cents each.

After a whole morning, she had sold only two brooms, which undoubtedly poured a basin of cold water over her enthusiasm.

Later, she went to Sanlong Market to try her luck, but the results were even worse than at Tangling—she sold only a single broom.

Still unwilling to give up, she carried the remaining ten brooms on her back and went from door to door in various villages to peddle them. After an entire day, she managed to sell only three, and for just thirty cents each.

It seemed that making money by binding straw brooms was also exceedingly difficult. Caiyun finally lost heart.

For the past few days, Yuqiang had been pestering his mother, eagerly longing to go out and broaden his horizons. He claimed that his second uncle supported the idea and had even given him some travel money. With no other choice, she finally had to consent.

In late November 1966, Yuqiang organized a dozen classmates for a "companion journey." Armed with an official letter of introduction from their school and standard-issue supplies, each of them wore a red armband symbolizing the significance of the activity. They boarded a train from Dongchu City, heading toward the capital of the motherland that everyone yearned for.

Due to the drought, the peanuts planted in Caiyun's private plot were also affected. Although she frequently led Yuqiang and Yulan to carry water and irrigate them, the harvest ultimately decreased, yielding just over a hundred catties of dried peanuts. To prevent the children from stealing them, she packed the peanuts into a hemp sack and twisted the opening tightly with wire, thinking this would keep them safe.

A few days later, she felt that the peanuts seemed to have diminished somewhat. After inspecting them carefully several times, she discovered the problem: someone had poked a hole in the back of the sack. When she questioned the children, no one admitted to it, though Caiyun was certain it must have been Yulan's doing.

Angered and with no other recourse, she had to devise a more effective measure.

Every evening, she organized the children to shell the peanuts together. Although they all drooped with saliva at the sight of the golden peanut kernels, no one dared to put any into their mouths. The shelled kernels were immediately locked inside a trunk, putting them completely out of reach.

Yulan had not expected her mother to discover her peanut-stealing deed so quickly. Not a single one of the stolen peanuts had she dared to eat; she had hidden them all in a safe place, saving them for her beloved brother Tao.

Not long ago, Yulan and Youtao had agreed to meet at Tiger Pond at eight o'clock in the evening on the first, eleventh, and twenty-first days of each lunar month. The two of them would simply sit by the pond embankment, chatting about household and production team matters, and occasionally speaking of their aspirations for future life.

One evening, Yulan arrived at Tiger Pond early and waited anxiously at the spot where Youtao had saved her years ago.

Before long, she saw Youtao approaching and immediately stepped forward, calling out, "Brother Tao, why did you just arrive?"

Youtao replied, "The water at Tangqiao Dam rose, and there was no ferry operating tonight. I swam across."

"The water is so cold now. Did you catch a chill?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking of you kept me warm inside."

"If you encounter a situation like this next time, don't cross over."

"You wouldn't know and would surely wait for me. That wouldn't be good at all."

Yulan came up with an idea: "From now on, let's go to Tangqiao Dam first. If the water is deep, I'll sing a song for you, and you'll sing a song for me, and then we'll go back. If the water is shallow, you can cross over. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me. It's settled."

Youtao pulled some food out of his coat pocket and handed it to Yulan's mouth. "Open your mouth."

"What is this?" Yulan found it delicious, but didn't know what it was.

"See if you can guess."

"Chicken?"

"Wrong."

"Goose?"

"Wrong, it's rabbit meat."

"Where did you get rabbit meat?"

"I caught it. I saved a rabbit leg for you."

"Your mother's health isn't good. You should save it to nourish her."

"I saved some for my mother too, don't worry."

Yulan was truly a glutton; before long, she had devoured the entire rabbit leg.

Yulan said to Youtao, "I'll take you to a new place."

"Where?"

"The western drying ground."

"What are we going there for?"

"I won't tell you now."

Walking along the path, Yulan several times wanted to reach out and hold Youtao's hand, but at the crucial moment, she pulled her hand back. Thus, they walked forward side by side in silence.

Until they reached the crevice between two haystacks on the western side of the western drying ground, Yulan bravely reached out and grasped Youtao's hand. She felt a surge of warmth instantly flow from her palm through her entire body, and she could feel Youtao's hand twitching as well.

She pulled Youtao into the crevice. Beside one of the haystacks was a fairly large hollow, the bottom of which was lined with thick rice straw. "Brother Tao, it's safe here. No one will see us. Let's sit here for a while."

Hand in hand, the two of them sat down.

"How did you discover this place?"

"I found it while catching sparrows with my brother."

"How is there such a big hole?"

"Someone probably used it to play hide-and-seek."

Yulan pulled a small cloth bag she had hidden in advance out from the rice straw and handed it to Youtao. "For you."

"What is this?"

"Peanuts."

"Where did you get them?"

"They're from the private plot at my house."

"I don't want them. You keep them to eat."

"We have more at home. These are specially for you."

"Does your mother know?"

"No one knows. You must keep it a secret for me, and you mustn't tell your mother either."

"Wouldn't that be wrong?"

"It's fine."

Yulan opened the small cloth bag, shelled a peanut kernel, and handed it to Youtao's hand. "From now on, I want to shell peanuts for you to eat every day."

Yulan didn't return home until after she had seen Youtao off.

Because of this year's drought, the autumn grain harvest had dropped drastically, and Caiyun felt that next spring would bring another famine. She wanted to take advantage of the current agricultural lull to roast the peanut kernels and sell them for some money, so she could buy some food on the black market and make padded trousers for the children.

She knew that peanuts were state-monopolized goods and private trading was prohibited. If they were to be sold, they could only be sold to the state, but the prices were very low and fetched little profit.

For safety's sake, she prepared to scout the market first to see if her idea was viable.

To the east of Wangjiayu Production Team was Tangling, about five miles away, holding markets on dates ending in 2, 4, 7, and 9. To the southwest was Sanlong, about seven miles away, holding markets on dates ending in 1, 3, 6, and 8. Excluding days ending in 5 and 10, one could go to a market every single day.

After careful reconnaissance, she noticed a pattern: before 8:00 AM, around 12:00 noon, and after 6:00 PM, basically no one managed the markets. She felt there were still loopholes to exploit and decided to give it a try.

The first time, she didn't dare to prepare too much, roasting only two catties of peanut kernels. Coincidentally, she still had some dried red chili peppers and ginger at home, so she brought them along to sell as well, which could also serve as cover.

When she arrived at the market, it was already bright, and people had already begun trading. She chose an inconspicuous spot in the vegetable-selling area to test the waters.

After everything was ready, she cried out a few times: "Peanut kernels! Fresh, crispy, and delicious roasted peanut kernels! Come and buy!"

Before long, several people gathered around to ask about the price. "How much are they?"

Caiyun said, "Ten cents per liang."

"Give me half a catty."

Soon enough, everything was sold out, totaling two yuan. Caiyun felt very excited inside.

The next day, she roasted five catties of peanut kernels and went to Sanlong Market. The market here was not as bustling as Tangling's, and there were relatively fewer people. Just before eight o'clock, when she hadn't even sold half of them, two market administrators suddenly appeared and confiscated all of Caiyun's pole scale and peanut kernels on the spot.

Caiyun felt that the path of selling peanut kernels at the market was blocked, and her plan to make padded trousers for the children fell through.

The padded trousers belonging to Yuqiang and Yulan were not only tattered, but crucially, they were too small to fit into anymore. She had hoped to buy some peanut kernels to solve this problem, but now that seemed unfeasible. With no other option, she slit the two pairs of padded trousers open along both sides, added extra fabric inside and out before sewing them back together, stuffed some cotton wadding into the middle, expanded them, and patched them up. She let the children make do with them for a while longer, finally resolving the immediate crisis.